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The Death Glare<br />
There is a characteristic INTJ expression 6 which has become popularly termed “the death glare.”<br />
This facial expression is actually not a glare, but the INTJ’s neutral face. The mistaken effect of a<br />
glare is produced by unbroken direct eye contact, prolonged silence, and an utterly impassive face.<br />
The death glare may also be mistaken for depression.<br />
In the book Jane Eyre, an INTJ named Mr. St. John appraises Jane: "St. John’s eyes, though clear<br />
enough in a literal sense, in a figurative one were difficult to fathom. He seemed to use them rather<br />
as instruments to search other people’s thoughts, than as agents to reveal his own: the which<br />
combination of keenness and reserve was considerably more calculated to embarrass than to<br />
encourage."<br />
It is the absence of any sort of emotional cues that tends to make the INTJ look less-than-pleased,<br />
even if they are feeling neither happy, sad or upset. Females and males alike will exhibit this<br />
expression; those being pinned under the glare squirm inside, imagining all the things that the INTJ<br />
must see wrong with them. But in actuality, the INTJ is pondering why tablecloths have checkers.<br />
A Nice Little Chat<br />
Like all Rationals, INTJs are disinterested in small talk, meaning everyday chitchat about<br />
coworkers, cars, barbecues, shopping trips, etc. They are more intrigued in discussing the question<br />
of whether dolphins have language or complaining about how Star Wars breaks the laws of physics.<br />
Since INTJs are not terribly interested in the everyday details of other people’s lives, they tend to<br />
have a poor recall for names, faces, and personal information. It doesn’t help that they tend to<br />
“space out” when people begin to discuss the boring stuff, either.<br />
With practice, INTJs become skilled at nodding and making responsive noises at appropriate times,<br />
while internally wondering whether dolphins have language or thinking about how Star Wars breaks<br />
the laws of physics. They do not intercept half the personal information poured upon them, and<br />
they easily forget what they do hear because they find it rather uninteresting.<br />
A popular ice breaking activity has each person in a group share their name and a personal detail<br />
about themselves. (INTJs don’t like sharing personal details about themselves, but if compelled...)<br />
Will this exercise help the INTJ get to know the rest of the group? No. Shortly after the exercise is<br />
over, they will wipe every name and personal detail from their brain.<br />
This is a phenomenon that actually applies to all INTs. As an INTP, I went on a school trip with<br />
about a dozen strangers whose names and faces got all jumbled up in my mind. One of these people<br />
was a young woman from South America who wouldn’t eat pig meat because members of her<br />
family had been murdered by guerrillas and the corpses subsequently devoured by the pigs on the<br />
farm where they lived. A couple days later I was having breakfast and a young woman standing<br />
next to me said that she didn’t want to eat her bacon. Eagerly I volunteered to eat it, but then she<br />
uncomfortably said that she would eat it—and did, though later she said she felt ill and regretted it.<br />
Sometime later I put these two facts together. Oops.<br />
In middle school I had a red-haired friend in gym and science. One day I decided to jump out from<br />
behind the bleachers and scare her. During science class I reminded her of what had happened, but<br />
she didn’t seem to understand. She insisted that the incident hadn’t happened, and that I didn’t have<br />
gym class with her. It turned out that I actually had two red-haired friends. Another person whose<br />
6 Keirsey, 1998
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